Damascus bombings: Dozens of Iraqi pilgrims killed

New York [U.S.], Mar. 12 (ANI): At least 40 Iraqi Shiite pilgrims were killed and around 120 were injured in the twin blasts that rocked in Damascus, Syria, said Iraq's Foreign Ministry. Syria has been submerged in a civil war for six years, which has been marked by Sunni-Shiite sectarian conflict. The explosions took place at the Bab al-Saghir Cemetery in the Syrian capital and the attackers used improvised explosive devices, Iraqi Foreign Ministry spokesman Ahmed Jamal said in a statement. The ministry further said the pilgrims were visiting "holy shrines" at Bab al-Saghir, and that no one has claimed responsibility for the bombings so far. Meanwhile, the Syrian government has branded the attacks "cowardly" acts of terror and called on the UN secretary-general and chairman of the UN Security Council to condemn them, said the state-run Syrian Arab News Agency. The government further demanded that countries backing terror groups, "mainly those of Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Qatar and some Western states, be compelled to stop all forms of support to these organizations." The Syrian regime has claimed it has been fighting "terrorists" -- its term for rebel fighters. Last year, ISIS claimed responsibility for deadly attacks near the revered "Lady Zeynab" Shiite Muslim shrine on the southern outskirts of Damascus. (ANI)